Annual science festival for Cheshire and Warrington

Cheshire and Warrington are to get their own annual science festival starting in May 2014, Marketing Cheshire and The University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre have revealed.

The ‘Amazed by Science’ Festival will promote and celebrate science, technology and engineering throughout Cheshire and to position the area as one of the UK foremost scientific areas, as home to a number of world class science organisations.

The next stage will be to engage the most successful science, technology and engineering companies to get behind this event for the region. The team are starting to consider offers for headline sponsorship of the event from several interested parties and are encouraging potential partners and organisations from the science industry to get involved at a range of different levels.

Katrina Michel, chief executive at Marketing Cheshire commented: “We have some amazing science companies in Cheshire and Warrington and so working with us on this festival would give them the opportunity to raise their profile, engage their staff and create an enjoyable science experience for hundreds of families during the May half term break.

“We need support from leaders in the science community because without it we won’t be able to get the festival off the ground.”

In order to generate large audiences and be easily accessible, the festival will be based primarily at visitor attractions throughout Cheshire including areas such as Chester, Crewe, Macclesfield and Warrington and will include several intermediate venues.

It is expected that the first festival will run from 24th May – 1st June 2014 to include half-term and the Bank Holiday weekend. The public promotional launch for the festival will be in early 2014, with a major event launch in the 6-8 weeks prior to the festival.

There are two principle target audiences in our first year: families (with children aged 5-16), and adults. The expected audience includes Cheshire residents; day trippers travelling from across the North West, Midlands or Wales; or those on short breaks over half term and Bank Holiday period.

The festival will have its own unique brand and will be “distinctly Cheshire” in its style. Needless to say, Jodrell Bank will be a key player as we hope will Chester Zoo, Delamere Forest, National Trust Quarry Bank Mill and several others who have already expressed interest.

Teresa Anderson, director of Jodrell Bank said: “We have a wonderfully successful relationship with the Manchester Science Festival and know that our visitors are all really inspired by science. Cheshire has such a wide range of scientific activity it just seemed a logical move to try to get a festival off the ground to celebrate the wealth of achievement here and provide an opportunity for people to come and be inspired closer to home. Our partners are all really enthusiastic about it so we’re excited to be working with them to launch this.”

Howard Hopwood, deputy chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership commented: “Cheshire and Warrington is one of the best performing economies in the UK and is particularly strong in the Chemical, Bioscience, Engineering and Energy sectors.

“We are leading the way in the field of research with Jodrell Bank as a world leader in Astrophysics research and now home to the International HQ of the Square Kilometre Array project.

The Local Enterprise Partnership recognises that to maintain the strong performance in these sectors and drive growth in the Cheshire and Warrington economy, it is essential to continue to focus on scientific advances and technological change.“

For more information and to express an interest in getting involved as a partner or sponsor please contact Katrina Michel directly at k.michel@marketingcheshire.co.uk or on 01244 405604.

Tweet them @Invest_Cheshire and use our hashtags #cheshirescience or #sciencefestivalsponsor

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →